Recently, with widespread applications of the internet, printers are widely and frequently used in the offices to print out data. Among a variety of printing devices, inkjet printers are the most popular. During operation of an inkjet printer, an inkjet head disposed on an inkjet head holder will accurately eject ink on designated positions of a paper (or another medium), so that corresponding characters or pictures are printed on the paper (or another medium). However, during the printing process of the inkjet head, residual ink is readily accumulated around the inkjet nozzle of the inkjet head, or the dust from the surface of the paper is readily accumulated around the inkjet nozzle. Under this circumstance, the inkjet nozzle is clogged, and thus the printing quality is deteriorated, for example, the ink density is uneven or the ink color is inaccurate. Therefore, for enhancing the printing quality and prolonging the use life of the inkjet head, it is necessary to keep the clean condition of the inkjet nozzle of the inkjet head.
FIG. 1 is a schematic exploded view illustrating a conventional inkjet head maintenance device, which is disclosed in for example Taiwanese Patent No. I329073. As shown in FIG. 1, the inkjet head maintenance device 1 comprises a base member 10, a sliding seat 11 and a supporting tray 12. The supporting tray 12 is disposed on the sliding seat 11 for cleaning and maintaining an inkjet head (not shown). The sliding seat 11 is disposed on the base member 10. For moving the sliding seat 11 on the base member 10 in a reciprocating manner to allow the supporting tray 12 to clean and maintain the inkjet head, a driving gear set 13, a transmission rod 14 and a transmission gear set 15 are installed on a sidewall of the base member 10. The driving gear set 13 comprises a first main gear 131, a second main gear 132, a third main gear 133, a first internal gear 134 and a fourth main gear 135. The first main gear 131 is arranged beside the second main gear 132 for driving rotation of the second main gear 132. The second main gear 132 is engaged with the third main gear 133 for driving rotation of the third main gear 133. The third main gear 133 is arranged beside the first internal gear 134 for driving rotation of the first internal gear 134. The first internal gear 134 is engaged with the fourth main gear 135 for driving rotation of the fourth main gear 135. The transmission gear set 15 is engaged with two racks 111 of the sliding seat 11. On the other hand, the transmission gear set 15 comprises a first transmission gear 151, a second transmission gear 152, a main transmission shaft 153 and two internal transmission gears 154 and 155. The internal transmission gears 154 and 155 of the transmission gear set 15 are engaged with the two racks 111 of the sliding seat 11, respectively.
Once the inkjet head is moved to a position over the inkjet head maintenance device, a task of cleaning and maintaining the inkjet head or a task of humidifying the inkjet head may be performed. For performing such task, the transmission gear set 15 is connected with the driving gear set 13, so that a driving force provided by the driving gear set 13 can be transmitted to the sliding seat 11. Meanwhile, the first transmission gear 151 of the transmission gear set 15 is engaged with the fourth main gear 135 of the driving gear set 13, and the second main gear 132 and the third main gear 133 of the driving gear set 13 are engaged with each other. Consequently, the driving force can be transmitted from the driving gear set 13 to the transmission gear set 15. Then, the second transmission gear 152 and the main transmission shaft 153 are successively driven to rotate. Afterwards, the internal transmission gears 154 and 155 that are disposed within a first groove wall are driven by the main transmission shaft 153 to rotate. In such way, by controlling the rotating direction of the driving gear set 13, the rotating directions of the internal transmission gears 154 and 155 are adjustable. Moreover, since the internal transmission gears 154 and 155 are respectively engaged with the two racks 111, the direction of moving the sliding seat 11 within the base member 10 is adjustable.
The conventional inkjet head maintenance device, however, still has some drawbacks. For example, it is troublesome to assemble many gears of the inkjet head maintenance device. Therefore, there is a need of providing an improved inkjet head maintenance device with reduced assembling complexity.